Writing Pathways: Performance Assessments and Learning Progressions, Grades K-8

by Lucy Calkins

"These assessment tools make progress in writing as transparent, concrete, and obtainable as possible and put ownership for this progress into the hands of learners, allowing students and teachers to work toward a very clear image of what good writing entails." -Lucy Calkins, Writing Pathways Lucy Calkins' groundbreaking performance assessments offer instructional tools to support continuous assessment, timely feedback, and clear goals tied to learning progressions that have been aligned with world-class standards. Originally published as part of the bestselling Units of Study in Opinion/Argument, Information, and Narrative Writing, grades K-8, Writing Pathways is ideal for writing workshop, but suitable for any writing instruction context or curriculum. This practical guide Who needs Writing Pathways ? Who doesn't need Writing Pathways ? For more information, visit .

Genres: Education, Professional Development, Writing, Teaching

464 pages, Spiral-bound

First published April 24, 2014

Reviews

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great guide for coherency across grade levels along with grade level expectations. Allows for a deeper understanding of what is developmentally appropriate along with providing examples of specific writing genres.

[Sandra · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to buy this book for a class...how schools of education are still using Calkins as an expert in any way is alarming. This book is basically trash. I did find the learning progressions to be helpful starting points when evaluating the writing of students in grades I have never taught.

[Sunday · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my new “go to” book for assessing writing and moving students’ forward. This new resource reminds us of effective practices for teaching, for Common Core-aligned assessing in a way that helps us decide what to teach, and then provides well organized, coherent and cohesive resources (rubrics, student-friendly checklists, and examples of student writing) for assessing students’ writing and moving our practice as well as student writers forward.

The tone is refreshing – Lucy reminds the reader consistently that teaching writing is not easy (but we can do it – together with our colleagues and over time), that you are not crazy if you assess your students and find they are performing way below Common Core standards (80% of students in the USA probably are), and that “hope, laughter and candid talk” help as well.

You do not need Calkins’ Units of Study to use this book. While it does not go into depth about how to teach writing – it’s an invaluable resource to support informed teaching of opinion/argument, informational, and narrative writing. It provides a picture of what our students’ writing should look like. I will use it anytime I need clarity about what students should be doing in writing – across grade levels – in Common Core language and in student-friendly language. The student samples (two for each genre at each grade level) will be invaluable in helping me think through planning for instruction.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

About 100 pages of this book are instruction. The remaining pages are writing progressions, on-demand assessments, checklists, rubrics, and standard writing samples for students. It took me about four hours to read closely, highlight, and annotate what would we be pertinent for my classroom, school and district.

[Diana Pettis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book for teachers to reading on Writing. I learned so much especially in regards to introducing checklists to students. I also liked the norming meeting for grade level teams so that everyone is scoring assessments in a similiar way.

[Gabrielle Zastrow · Rating 3 out of 5]

As usual for Lucy, it was intense!

[Susan Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must have for consulting, assessing, and thinking about how students write.